GMW Emerging Writers Comp

Since 2008, the Grace Marion Wilson Emerging Writers Competition has aimed to support and profile emerging Victorian writers.

The annual fiction and creative non-fiction prizes are open to writers with no more than three stories or articles published in a recognised book, magazine or journal.

Winners of each category will receive a $1000 cash prize, with second prizes of $250 awarded to one runner-up in each category. The first and second prize entries will also be published in the October/November issue of 'The Victorian Writer' magazine.

Applications for the 2017 Grace Marion Wilson Emerging Writers Competition are now closed.

Key dates

Previous winners

The winner of the Fiction category was Amanda Hildebrandt with the entry 'Market Day'. 'Binky' by Margaret Hickey was awarded runner up. High commendations were also awarded to Damian Perry for 'Death Watch', Liselle Bhatia for 'Food for Prayer' and Phillippa Finkemeyer for 'Made of Ivory'.

The winner of the Non-Fiction category was Karen McKnight with the entry 'The Playboy Club of North Perth'. 'Myanmar and My Father' by Claire Harris was awarded runner up. High commendation were awarded to Katia Ariel for 'Black Pearl', 'Hessian' by Marg Hooper and 'Fierce and Feisty Love' by Fiona White.

2017

The winner of the Fiction category was Kieran Stevenson with the entry 'Skin'. 'Crack' by Zoe Bradley was awarded runner up in the Fiction category. High commendations were also awarded to Thomas Minogue for 'Helen Earth' and Ben Oost for 'Mumtaz'.

The winner of the Non-Fiction category was Christine Hill with the entry 'How could you do this to us?'. 'Melbourne '89' by Susan Bennett was awarded runner up in the Non-Fiction category. High commendations were also awarded to Linda Judge for 'The Odyssey', Ann Dinh for 'Christmas Excrucinaire', and Warwick Sprawson for 'The Island of Flowers'.

2016

In the eighth year of our annual Grace Marion Wilson Emerging Writers Competition, we received the highest number of entries since its inception in 2009 with 129 entries.

The prize for short fiction was awarded to Justine Sless for ‘Price Check’ with the second prize going to Amelia Mellor with ‘Left of Centre’ and high commendation to ‘Reel’ by Zoe Bradley.

First prize for creative non-fiction went to CB Mako for her essay ‘A Year of Drawing Breasts’, with the second prize awarded to Anita Smith with ‘Real Act’, and a high commendations was awarded to ‘Tough Love’ by Lawrence Barker.

2015

The prize for short fiction was awarded to Kerry Lee Munnery for 'Solatium' with the second prize going to William Stanforth and honourable mentions to Melisabeth Cooper Fell and Katy Warner.

First prize for creative non-fiction went to Tamsin Martin for her essay ‘Lady M’, with the second prize awarded to Julie Perrin, and honourable mentions going to Mark Brandi and Susan Bennett.

2014

The prize for short fiction was awarded to Else Fitzgerald for 'River' with the second prize being awarded to Stephanie Wang for 'This is What We Know'. Magdalena McGuire was awarded an honourable mention for her short fiction entry, 'Polish Cooking for Beginners'.

First prize for creative non-fiction went to Sandra Todorov for 'A woman must have money'. The second prize was awarded to Jen Squire for 'Getting back together, again'. And Kate Amesbury received an honourable mention for 'A judge of good character'.

2013

The $1000 prize for creative non-fiction went to Judith Bunn for her story ‘Pink’, a concise and touching memoir of the writer’s aunty. The $250 second prize was awarded to Shivaun Plozza for ‘Fox, Birdie and Me’. Chris Brophy and Alice Bishop were awarded honourable mentions for their short fiction entries, called ‘The Zoo’ and ‘Paper Squares’ respectively.

Following on from being awarded the inaugural Templeberg Residential Writing Fellowshipin Sri Lanka, Michelle Wright was announced as the winner of the $1000 prize for short fiction for ‘Family Block’. The $250 second prize for creative non-fiction was awarded to Kerrin O’Sullivan for ‘Homesickness – terra incognita’.

2012

Peter Dann won with his short story 'The Aerial Tree' and Harriet Gaffney won with her non-fiction piece 'A Battered Heart'. In second place with her short story, 'Faris’s Story', was Wendy Riley, while Zoe Blain took runner-up position for 'My Father'. Congratulations to those writers that were highly commended: Mattie Sempert, Nancy Sugarman, Gabrielle Daly, Daisy Wallace, Karen Charlton and Liam Brooks.

2011

Fiction Awards First Prize: Beau Hillier for 'What Happens Between Dreams'.
Second Prizes: David Mence for 'Boxing Match' and Cassandra White for 'How Cold the Northern Lights'.
Commendations: Fikret Pjalic for 'Running With Red' and Naomi Turner for 'Every Little Thing'.

Non-Fiction Awards First Prize: Hugh Kiernan for 'Iris in Beige and Yellow'.
Second Prize: Andee Jones for 'Mrs Goebbels'.
Commendations: Dion Teasedale for 'Camp Dog Blog', Kent McCarter for 'Around the Globe in 28 Novels' and Kerrin O’Sullivan for 'Gambling on a Day at Hinnomunje'.

2010

Timothy Robinson won the Short Story category for his entry 'Henry Stanfield Can Fly', while Lindy Alexander won the Non-fiction prize for 'Hiding from the World'. The fiction runner up was Melanie Cheng for 'Stone Baby', and Lorna Hendry was Non-fiction runner up for 'Killing the Dogs'.

Commended fiction prize entrants were Sarinah Hope for 'The Second Marriage', Julie Twohig for 'The Glove' and Kate Rotherham for 'Here and There'. The commended non-fiction entrants are Jane Pitt for 'A Bit of Fun', Carole Poustie for 'The Holiday', Keri Rehfisch for 'In Castro’s Backyard' and Wendy Hawkins for 'Rain on the Roof'.

2009

First prize for Non-fiction went to HL Singer for 'Life: An Exercise in Words'. Second prize went to Zhiling Howlitt for 'Mao’s Great Mangifera Parade'. Other shortlisted entries included: Joan Kerr for 'The House We Live In', Graham Reeks for 'Beneath Balaclava' and Judy McGrath for 'It’s a Lovely Day'.

The winner of the first prize for Short Story went to Rhys Tate for 'Smallholdings'. Second prize was won by Ross Topham for 'Like Mary and Child'. Other shortlisted entries included: John Bartlett for 'Dulce Et Decorum Est', Karen Parker for 'Wusthof' and Joan Kerr for 'A Life'.

Manuscript Assessments

Entries are now open for The Ada Cambridge Writing Prizes (The Adas). For the first time, submissions for prose and poetry are open to all writers who live in Victoria. The Young Ada Short Story Prize remains open to 14-18-year-olds, who live, study or work in Melbourne’s western suburbs. Winners...